Strategy, Leadership, and Narratives: Data Viz for Policy Change
Jared E. Knowles
May 7, 2014
Outline
- This talk will focus on 5 graphics as an illustration of the principals of policy focused data visualization
- Each example is taken from real policy discussions with senior leadership in a state education agency
- Together, these examples demonstrate how data visualization can be used to inform policy and decision making
- But first…
The Principles
Know thy data, and know thy audience better.
- What is their question?
- What is their timeframe?
- What are their constraints?
- What is their capacity?
On Audience
Your audience can understand much more than you may think. It is all in how you lead them there.
Yabbut - too much data
Yabbut - too many priorities
Too many competing priorities
Unclear direction
The Way Out
- Identify your goals (strategy)
- Explore your data and focus (analysis)
- Focus even narrower (leadership)
- Find the context (context)
- Put it together (presentation)
Use the data to make a visualization that presents an argument supported by evidence.
Strategy: What can this data say?
Wisconsin FRL Map
Of Metrics and Dashboards
Widgets provide limited connection to strategy.
Analyze your data to find the meaning
What is the goal of this graphic?
Word cloud, or clouded message?
What did we learn?
- The words obviously and education were used a lot
- Some other words were frequent too
- What value have we provided?
Exploratory vs. Explanatory
Exploratory graphics are what we use to understand the data. They are useful for us to understand what is going on and the key features of a dataset
Explanatory graphics are polished and annotated graphics that convey a fact or argument
Exploratory
Explanatory
What have we learned?
- Strong link between ACT and WKCE scores
- Not only does the mode shift with WKCE percentile, but the variation shifts as well
- Low WKCE scores mean a low chance at meeting the ACT benchmark
An aside on complexity
- Yes, these graphics are mor complex
- Explaining one complex graphic to the audience with a strong meaning is powerful
- Many superficial graphics have a harder time conveying a strong message
Leadership means making the point clear
